President Obama mistaken for England soccer star on World Cup souvenir mug (PHOTO)

Critics keep firing accusations at President Obama but who knew the POTUS would somehow end up on a mugshot. 

In what sounds like an episode of "The Office," a company which produces World Cup merchandise is now apologizing for inadvertently putting a photo of Obama on their souvenir coffee mugs after an employee mistook the President of the United States for England defender Chris Smalling.

In the case of mistaken identity, the U.S. President is pictured wearing the England football top after a company minion — apparently one with little familiarity of world leaders — was asked to find royalty-free images of each member of the England squad and stuck a stock photo of Obama on the World Cup cup instead, reported the  Daily Mail.

The head and shoulders photo printed on the mugs show Obama wearing the England kit, with the caption 'Chris Smalling World Cup squad Brazil 2014' beneath it.

The company which made the error has now hastily turned to English clearance resellers Wholesale Clearance UK to try and switch the stock.

Wholesale Clearance managing director Karl Baxter said the company contacted him with the hope of off-loading the stock.

Baxter said he believed a junior member of staff at the Dorset company responsible could be facing demotion after being trusted with the task of finding free photos of each England player to use on thousands of the the mugs.

"They passed this onto to their young, bright eyed and bushy tailed new apprentice. The designs were proofed and signed off by their boss, who had clearly had a heavy night with the lads playing poker and before he'd had his first vat of coffee the following morning," said Baxter.

'They immediately contacted us and 2,000 of the England items were dispatched to our warehouse. We eagerly unpacked them and, indeed it turned out that the Chris Smalling cup had Barack Obama's head on instead of Chris's.

A promotion might be more in order since something tells me these collectible mugs might go up in value.

Argentinian gangs planning ambush on England's hooligans during World Cup: Report

You might want to file this under the What Goes Around Comes Around or the You Asked For It sports category. 

Police are warning English soccer hooligans headed to the World Cup in Brazil that Argentinian thugs are planning to ambush and attack them after they arrive. 

More than 650 violent "ultras" are believed to be travelling to the tournament in Brazil from nearby Argentina to face off with the notorious English ruffians.

Hundreds of the reported instigators are heading to Belo Horizonte, where Argentina will be based and where both sides play group games just days apart later this month, according to the Daily Mail.

Police in the city suggested that members of the notorious Argentinian Barra Brava groups have made alliances with equally violent Brazilian ultras —  and are preparing attacks on rival England fans.

One Brazilian ultra group, Mafia Azul, have reportedly rented a ranch on the outskirts of the city in southeast Brazil to accommodate dozens of Barras Bravas linked to Argentinian club San Lorenzo.

The Mafia Azul group, linked to Belo Horizonte side and current league leaders Cruzeiro, were banned from stadiums in Brazil earlier this year after violent confrontations with rival fans which left several people dead.

Military police chief Col Divino Brito told Brazil's Estado de Minas newspaper he believes the Argentinian and Brazilian soccer gangs are preparing to team up to attack English fans while they are in town.

"Our worry is that in the interval between one match and another, when we are going to have thousands of fans from Argentina and then from England, there are going to be clashes," he said. "We will deal forcefully with any foreigner who comes here wanting to commit violence and vandalism."

But Col Alberto Luiz Alves admitted: 'We can normally monitor groups with a history of violence.

"But we would only know of dangerous fans if they enter by air," claims Col Alberto Alves. "And in the case of the Argentinian Barra Bravas most will be arriving by land. It will be very difficult to keep track of them."

At least 11,000 Argentinian fans have bought tickets to see their side play Iran on June 21 in Belo Horizonte.

This sort of threat usually goes unheeded, but let's hope no innocent fans find themselves in a mix.

Woman goes off on England soccer star Ashley Cole for not leaving tip (VIDEO)

Amazing video footage has emerged of an England soccer star receiving a barrage of foul-mouthed abuse by an angry woman outside a Missouri bar.

Ashley Cole was in St Louis for Chelsea’s post-season double header against Manchester City in May. On a night out with friends, Cole somehow touched a nerve with one woman, who proceeded to scream and shout profanities at the Premier League defender. 

The 32-year-old Cole — who reportedly makes $320,000 per week playing in the league — was believed to have been in the Hair of the Dog bar, and a dispute reportedly arose over the amount of money left as a tip, according to TMZ.

For over two minutes, the woman, believed to be the bartender, launches an unending stream of abuse towards Cole and his friends, and even says she hopes Cole would be robbed, beaten and raped on his way home from the night-spot. 

"I hope this stupid a** gets robbed, gets beat, gets raped right here on the motherf****** sidewalk," she shouted at the former Arsenal player. "I need that a****** to get beaten up by someone. You need to realise that you’re not the s***, dude."

The Chelsea star kept relatively calm as the woman continued her vile rant, and at one point asked the woman, "Why are you getting so angry with me? No-one knows."

At the beginning of the row, the American repeatedly yelled at Cole that he "rolled up in here [the bar] thinking “I’m the s***."

After Cole and his crew left she continues to berate Cole "They [Cole and his friends] think they’re f****** cool and they have money, they don’t even know how to tip."

England soccer star Kyle Walker caught inhaling 'hippy crack' from balloon at nightclub: Report

England soccer star Kyle Walker has been photographed appearing to inhale "hippy crack" from a balloon while partying with friends inside a hometown nightclub.

The 23-year-old right-back, who played for England against Moldova in Friday's World Cup qualifier, allegedly sucked in the potentially deadly nitrous oxide several times during a night out in Sheffield last June, the Sunday Mirror reported.

The controversial laughing gas, which is portioned into balloons and sold for as little as $3, is a legal but dangerous high and has effects likened to those of crack cocaine or heroin after taking a huff.

It has been known to cause users suffocation, seizures, strokes, blackouts, chronic depression and strain on the heart.  The drug is not as prevalent in US clubs as it is across the pond.

The Sunday Mirror said that Walker, who plays for Tottenham, allegedly inhaled a number of times from the balloon while out with friends on June 1. He was recovering from an injury that forced him to sit out England's friendly double-header with the Republic of Ireland and Brazil.

Walker, the Player of the Year last season, is expected to line-up against for England in Ukraine on Tuesday in a must-win World Cup qualifier.

"More and more canisters of laughing gas started appearing," said an eyewitness at the club.

"Kyle and his pals were getting well carried away with them. He didn't mind one bit that people were taking pictures."

"Hippy crack" first became popular during the 1960s, but has now become a popular legal high in British nightclubs, where it is sold for a few bucks.

The FA have declined to comment.

Italian newspaper shows Mario Balotelli as King Kong atop Big Ben

Prior to Italy's Euro 2012 match with England, an Italian newspaper published a picture depicting Italy star Mario Balotelli— who is black— as King Kong swatting soccer balls while clutching the top of Big Ben.

There was concern by players competing in Euro 2012 that racism could be a problem with fans in Ukraine and Poland.  I bet Balotelli didn't expect the racial insensitivity to come from his own country.

On Sunday, La Gazzetta dello Sport published a photo-illustration of the star striker with an accompanying story about the upcoming match.  The intent of the cartoon seemed to be that Balotelli and the Italians would beat England, but the execution was done in slightly poor taste.

Balotelli was racially abused at the Euro 2012 opener after hundreds of Spain fans made monkey noises at the international soccer star.  He threatened to walk off if he was harassed at any other matches.  In Italy's group-play match against Croatia, fans directed racist chants towards Balotelli and threw a banana onto the pitch during play.  The Croatian Football Federation was fined 80,000 Euros ($106,000) for the fan's actions.

Before the tournament, Balotelli— who was born in Palermo, Sicily— but is of Ghanaian descent, had expressed concerns about racial tension in the two host countries.

"I cannot bear racism, it's unacceptable to me.  If it had happened again, I would straight away leave the pitch and go home.  We are in 2012.  It can't happen," said the 21-year old.

Italy advanced against England with a 4-2 shootout win after both teams failed to score in regulation and overtime.  Italy will meet Germany in the semifinals on Thursday.

Euro 2012 anti-hooligan police equipped with testicle-biting dogs

Polish anti-hooligan squads will be using everything from testicle-biting police dogs to sonic cannons capable of inducing involuntary urination to keep the peace at Euro 2012.  So if you plan on rabble rousing on your way to a soccer match, don't forget to wear your cup and a pair of Depends.

The English-language Krakow Post newspaper published an editorial warning that local law enforcement agencies were more than ready to tackle any hooligan threat in Krakow.  Even though no games will be played in that city, it has become a home base for the England team's fans.

"The Polish police are going to come down on troublemakers like a bag of anvils and you don't want to be there when it happens," the newspaper's editorial warned.

"Krakow has a long history of hooligan violence— the local police have seen it all before and they will ruin your day if you try it on.

"These lad's mums and dads rioted under Soviet machine guns— a few chairs thrown by beered-up fans is not going to intimidate them.  Do not expect softly, softly police tactics."

The newspaper did not sugarcoat its defense plan to the significant amount of English fans arriving in Krakow.

"Poland's anti-hooligan squads are armed with: Shotguns, firing baton rounds that probably won't kill you as long as you're 30m away, a truck-mounted cannon affectionately known as "the typhoon," a high-tech sonic cannon that can make you wet yourself on its lowest setting, dogs trained to bite you directly in the testicles."

About 3,000 England fans have bought tickets for Monday's opening game against France which will be played in Ukraine along with all of the other Group D games.